Baking bread with spelt flour, without using a bread pan

Question

I ran out of "normal" wheat flour a few days ago, so I had to bake my bread with the closest thing - spelt flour.

I noticed the dough was a lot stickier than when using wheat flour, and when baked, the bread came out flat (like a thick pancake). The taste was fine, but because it was so flattened out, there was a lot more crust than usual (and the children don't like crust).

I usually bake my bread directly on the baking plate, not using any bread pan, and for wheat flour, that works fine. Do I need a bread pan to prevent the bread from running out, or is there something else I can do?

Answer 1

Although similar, spelt has more protein and less starch than wheat flour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat#Nutrition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt#Nutrition

This means that it will create a great structure but won't absorb as much liquid. This would result in exactly what you saw- it was sticky from water and protein and too loose to hold its shape but baked with a good crust.

The recipes I have seen use a mixture of flours that includes spelt.

Try adding less water.

Answer 2

Try baking it in a pot with a lid inside the oven ie a Dutch oven, casserole dish or whatever.

Although this does give you a much better crust - I can only suggest changing the children.

Answer 3

I've tried baking bread with 100% spelt (no wheat) flour a few times and it was really hard to get something not too flat, which was still pretty dense. Even using a bread pan the result is denser than the typical French white bread, but fine. I haven't tried it yet, but this recipe looks good (in the photo :)